Thursday, February 2, 2017

Newbery Honor Author Ashley Bryan

My heart has not
stopped smiling for Kelly Barnhill, Ashley Bryan, Adam Gidwitz, and Lauren Wolk
since the ALA Youth Media Awards press conference ended last week. It is an
exciting and important time for children’s literature.

Congratulations,
Ashley Bryan! Everyone loves hearing about THE CALL. What ran through your head
when the phone rang? What were you thinking about when the Newbery
committee was clapping and cheering for you?

Ashley Bryan: Thank you. I was very excited to
hear that the writing held up! I was especially happy to hear from the Newbery
Committee because I'd worked so hard to make the story exactly right,
and was so glad that the committee felt that the voices speaking in the story were
strong in language as well as meaning.

Illustration Credit: Ashley Bryan

What does the Newbery mean to you?

Ashley Bryan: The Newbery
is the top recognition of the writing for young people. I keep
a quote by Walter de la Mere by my work table at all times: "Only the
rarest kind of best in anything can be good enough for the young," and the
Newbery recognizes that. Also, the recognition means that the discussion
about slavery in America will be further opened. A child will ask
"What does it mean that a person cost $100?", and that introduces
the connection between a child and American history in a meaningful way. The
relationship to the adult world is very important for the growth of a child,
and books can do that. And everyone has dreams, and that, in part, is what it
means to be human, and child readers will see that even slaves had dreams --
they, too, were humans!

Illustration Credit: Ashley Bryan

Please finish these
sentence starters:

Reading isat the heart of life!

School librariesare the culture of the nation!

Borrow Freedom Over Me from your school or public library. Whenever possible, please support independent bookshops.

About Mr. Schu

I am a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University and the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic. I work diligently to put the right book in every child's hand. Book trailers are one way to connect readers with books. (All opinions shared are on own.)